JP7393386B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector.

Conventionally, connectors have been known that include a housing and a retainer that is assembled into the housing and serves as a slide holder that engages with terminals housed in the housing and holds the terminals in the housing (Patent Document (see 1). A cover is attached to the outer periphery of the housing and is movable along the direction in which the terminal is inserted into the housing.

The retainer is attached to the housing so as to be movable between a temporary locking position where the terminal can be inserted into the housing and a full locking position where the retainer is engaged with the terminal housed in the housing. The cover contacts the retainer at the temporary locking position of the retainer and cannot move around the outer periphery of the housing. On the other hand, the cover can move around the outer periphery of the housing without coming into contact with the retainer when the retainer is in the main locking position.

In this manner, the accommodation state of the terminals in the housing can be detected depending on whether or not the cover is movable. In such a connector, a rear cover is generally attached to the housing on the rear side in the terminal insertion direction. The rear cover has, for example, a guide function for guiding electric wires pulled out from the housing, a fall prevention function for preventing internal members from falling off from the housing, and the like.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-320672

By the way, in the connector of Patent Document 1, a cover is attached to the outer periphery of the housing in order to detect the accommodation state of the terminals in the housing. Therefore, a dedicated member such as a cover is required, and the number of parts increases. In addition, it is necessary to secure an arrangement space for arranging the cover and a movement space for the cover to move around the outer periphery of the housing, resulting in an increase in size.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can suppress an increase in the number of parts and increase in size, and can detect the accommodation state of terminals in a housing.

The connector according to the present embodiment includes a housing, a slide holder that is assembled to the housing and engages with a terminal housed in the housing to hold the terminal in the housing, and a slide holder that is assembled to the housing and holds the terminal in the housing. a rear cover that is assembled to the rear side in the insertion direction of the slide holder, and the slide holder has a temporary locking position with respect to the housing that allows the terminal to be inserted into the housing; The rear cover is provided with a protrusion that protrudes toward the housing, and the protrusion is configured to be movable between a final locking position in which the slide holder is engaged and a final locking position in which the slide holder is engaged. At the locking position, the slide holder interferes with the slide holder, making it impossible to assemble the rear cover to the housing, and when the slide holder is at the final locking position, it is inserted into the housing, allowing the rear cover to be assembled to the housing. .

It is preferable that the protruding portion is arranged so as to be able to come into contact with the slide holder at the permanent locking position of the slide holder, and restrict movement of the slide holder to the temporary locking position.

It is preferable that a wall portion of the housing is disposed on a side of the protruding portion opposite to the slide holder so as to be able to come into contact therewith.

It is preferable that an assembly portion for maintaining the assembled state of the rear cover to the housing is provided on a side of the wall portion of the housing opposite to the protruding portion.

Preferably, the rear cover is provided with a guide portion that guides an electric wire that is electrically connected to the terminal and drawn out of the housing, and the protrusion portion is formed continuously with the guide portion. .

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector that can suppress an increase in the number of parts and increase in size, and can detect the accommodation state of terminals in a housing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the slide holder of the connector according to the present embodiment when it is placed in the final locking position. FIG. 3 is a front view of the slide holder of the connector according to the present embodiment when it is placed in the final locking position and before the terminal and rear cover are assembled. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the slide holder of the connector according to the present embodiment when it is placed in a temporary locking position. FIG. 3 is a front view of the slide holder of the connector according to the present embodiment placed in a temporary locking position and before the terminal and rear cover are assembled. It is a perspective view of the housing of the connector concerning this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rear holder of the connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the slide holder of the connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rear cover of the connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rear cover of the connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the rear cover of the connector according to the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, the connector according to the present embodiment will be described in detail using the drawings. Note that the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 11, the connector 1 according to this embodiment can be fitted with a mating connector (not shown). The connector 1 includes a housing 3, a rear holder 5, a slide holder 7, and a rear cover 9. A terminal 11 is housed inside the housing 3 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the housing 3 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin. The housing 3 is formed in the shape of a case extending in the direction in which the connector 1 and the mating connector are fitted together. Inside the housing 3, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 capable of accommodating the terminals 11 are provided. The terminal accommodating chamber 13 extends along the fitting direction between the connector 1 and the mating connector. A terminal 11 is accommodated in each of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 .

Terminal 11 is made of a conductive material. The terminal 11 is, for example, a male terminal having a tab-shaped connection portion extending along the fitting direction of the connector 1 and the mating connector. An engaged portion 15 is continuously formed in the terminal 11 in the circumferential direction. The engaged portion 15 is formed to have a larger diameter than the tab-shaped connecting portion. The terminal 11 is electrically connected to an end portion of an electric wire 17 drawn out of the terminal storage chamber 13 . The electric wire 17 is electrically connected to, for example, a power source, a device, and the like.

The terminal 11 electrically connected to the electric wire 17 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 13 through the opening of the housing 3 from which the electric wire 17 is drawn out (the opening on the rear cover 9 side). Further insertion of the terminal 11 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 13 is restricted by the engaged portion 15 coming into contact with the partition wall 18 of the terminal accommodating chamber 13 . When the engaged portion 15 is in contact with the partition wall 18, the tab-shaped connecting portion of the terminal 11 is inserted through the hole formed in the partition wall 18, and the mating surface of the terminal accommodating chamber 13 with the mating connector is inserted. placed in the side opening. The terminal 11 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 13 is held in the terminal accommodating chamber 13 by a rear holder 5 assembled to the housing 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 and 7, the rear holder 5 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin. The rear holder 5 is housed on the opening side of the housing 3 from which the electric wire 17 is drawn out. The rear holder 5 is provided with a plurality of insertion holes 19 that communicate with the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 . The rear holder 5 is fixed to the housing 3 via a plurality of screws 21 before the terminal 11 is housed in the terminal housing chamber 13 . Note that the fixation of the rear holder 5 to the housing 3 is not limited to the screws 21, and may be, for example, engagement means that engage with each other. The rear holder 5 is provided with a locking lance 23 at a portion that coincides with the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13.

The locking lance 23 extends from the rear holder 5 toward the housing 3 and is formed to be elastically deformable. When the terminal 11 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 13, the locking lance 23 slides on the terminal 11 and is elastically deformed. The elastically deformed locking lance 23 returns to its original state when the terminal 11 is placed in the proper position in the terminal accommodating chamber 13, and is engaged with the engaged portion 15 of the terminal 11. The engagement between the locking lance 23 and the engaged portion 15 prevents the terminal 11 from coming off from the terminal accommodating chamber 13, and the terminal 11 is held in the terminal accommodating chamber 13. Although the locking lance 23 is provided on the rear holder 5, the locking lance 23 may be provided on the housing 3. A slide holder 7 is disposed between the rear holder 5 provided with the locking lance 23 and the housing 3, and the rear holder 5 prevents the slide holder 7 from falling off from the housing 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 and 8, the slide holder 7 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin, for example. The slide holder 7 is disposed between the housing 3 and the rear holder 5, and is movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the terminal 11 is inserted into the housing 3. The slide holder 7 is provided with a plurality of insertion holes 25 that communicate with the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 . The slide holder 7 is provided with an operating section 27 extending from the slide holder 7 toward the rear cover 9 side. The operating section 27 moves the slide holder 7 when pressed. The slide holder 7 is provided with an engaging portion 29 at a portion corresponding to the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 . The engaging portion 29 extends from the slide holder 7 toward the housing 3 side.

The slide holder 7 is movable between a temporary locking position (see FIG. 4) and a permanent locking position (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7, the engaging portion 29 of the slide holder 7 is not disposed inside the terminal accommodating chamber 13. Therefore, the terminal 11 can be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 13 without interfering with the engaging portion 29. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the final locking position of the slide holder 7, the engaging portion 29 of the slide holder 7 is arranged inside the terminal accommodating chamber 13. Therefore, when the terminal 11 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 13, the engaging portion 29 is engaged with the engaged portion 15 of the terminal 11. The engagement between the engaging portion 29 and the engaged portion 15 prevents the terminal 11 from coming off from the terminal accommodating chamber 13, and the terminal 11 is held in the terminal accommodating chamber 13. In addition, due to the engagement between the locking lance 23 and the engaged portion 15, the terminal 11 is doubly prevented from coming off from the terminal accommodating chamber 13, and the terminal 11 is stably held in the terminal accommodating chamber 13. I can do it. A rear cover 9 is attached to the housing 3 in which the slide holder 7 is accommodated.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 9 to 11, the rear cover 9 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin. The rear cover 9 is formed into an annular shape so as to have an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of a wall portion 31 that constitutes an opening on the opposite side of the fitting surface of the housing 3 with a mating connector. The rear cover 9 is assembled via an assembly portion 33 to the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 located on the rear side in the insertion direction of the terminal 11 .

The assembly portion 33 has an assembly hole 35 and an assembly protrusion 37 . The assembly holes 35 are arranged on the outer peripheral side of the wall portion 31 of the housing 3, extend from the housing 3 toward the rear cover 9 side, and are respectively provided in a plurality of locking pieces 39 formed to be elastically deformable. There is. The assembly projections 37 protrude from the outer surface of the rear cover 9 so as to be able to engage with the assembly holes 35, and are provided in plural on the outer surface of the rear cover 9 in correspondence with the plurality of locking pieces 39. In the assembly portion 33, when the rear cover 9 is assembled to the housing 3, the locking piece 39 slides on the assembly protrusion 37, and the locking piece 39 is elastically deformed. The elastically deformed locking piece 39 is restored when the rear cover 9 is placed in the normal assembly position of the housing 3, and the assembly protrusion 37 is engaged with the assembly hole 35. The engagement between the assembly hole 35 and the assembly protrusion 37 prevents the rear cover 9 from falling off from the housing 3, and the rear cover 9 is assembled to the housing 3. A plurality of (here, two) assembly portions 33 are provided on the housing 3 and the rear cover 9. The plurality of assembly parts 33 are set at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the rear cover 9 can be assembled to the housing 3 in the opposite direction. Note that, for example, by forming the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 and the rear cover 9 into a perfect circle shape and providing four mounting portions 33 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, the rear cover 9 can be oriented in four directions relative to the housing 3. Can be assembled.

The rear cover 9 is provided with a guide portion 41 that guides the plurality of electric wires 17 drawn out from the housing 3. The guide section 41 includes a first guide 43, a second guide 45, and a third guide 47. In the first guide 43, the electric wire 17 having the largest diameter among the plurality of electric wires 17 is arranged. The second guide 45 and the third guide 47 are arranged on both sides of the first guide 43, and among the plurality of electric wires 17, the electric wire 17 having a smaller diameter is arranged. By arranging the plurality of electric wires 17 in the guide portion 41, the plurality of electric wires 17 can be guided in accordance with the route shape of the plurality of electric wires 17. Note that although the guide portion 41 guides the plurality of electric wires 17 in one direction, the guide portion 41 is not limited to this. For example, if the routes of the plurality of electric wires 17 are different from each other, a plurality of guide parts 41 may be provided in the rear cover 9, and the guide parts 41 may guide the electric wires 17 according to the route shape of each electric wire 17. . In addition, by assembling the rear cover 9 to the housing 3 in the opposite direction, the guide portion 41 can guide the plurality of electric wires 17 in the opposite direction. Note that, for example, when the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 and the rear cover 9 are formed in a perfect circle shape, and the four assembly portions 33 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, the guide portion 41 connects the plurality of electric wires 17. can be guided in four directions.

A protrusion 49 extending from the rear cover 9 toward the housing 3 is provided inside the rear cover 9 . A plurality of (here, two) protrusions 49 are provided on the rear cover 9 . At least one of the plurality of protrusions 49 is formed continuously with the guide part 41. Therefore, the rigidity of the protruding part 49 formed continuously with the guide part 41 is increased by the guide part 41. Note that when a plurality of guide portions 41 are provided and the positions of the guide portions 41 and the protrusion portions 49 match, the protrusion portions 49 may be formed continuously with the guide portions 41.

As shown in FIG. 2, the protruding portion 49 can be inserted between the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 and the operating portion 27 of the slide holder 7 when the slide holder 7 is in the final locking position. Therefore, the protrusion 49 can be inserted into the housing 3, and the assembly hole 35 and the assembly protrusion 37 can be engaged with each other in the assembly part 33, so that the rear cover 9 can be assembled into the housing 3. be able to. In this way, when the slide holder 7 is in the final locking position, that is, when the terminal 11 is properly accommodated in the housing 3, the rear cover 9 can be assembled to the housing 3.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the protruding portion 49 interferes with the operating portion 27 of the slide holder 7 so as to come into contact with the operating portion 27 at the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7. Therefore, the protrusion 49 cannot be inserted into the housing 3, and the assembly hole 35 and the assembly protrusion 37 do not engage with each other in the assembly section 33, and the rear cover 9 is assembled into the housing 3. I can't attach it. In this manner, the rear cover 9 cannot be assembled to the housing 3 in the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7, that is, in a state where the terminals 11 may not be properly accommodated in the housing 3.

In this manner, the protruding portion 49 determines whether the rear cover 9 can be attached to the housing 3 depending on the temporary locking position and the final locking position of the slide holder 7. Therefore, depending on whether or not the rear cover 9 is attached to the housing 3, it is possible to detect the accommodation state of the terminals 11 in the housing 3.

By providing the rear cover 9 with the protrusion 49 that can detect the accommodation state of the terminal 11 in the housing 3 in this manner, a dedicated member is not required and an increase in the number of parts can be suppressed. Further, the rear cover 9 is assembled to the rear side of the housing 3 in the direction in which the terminals 11 are inserted. Therefore, there is no need to provide a space for arranging or moving a dedicated member around the outer periphery of the housing 3, and it is possible to suppress an increase in size.

Here, the protruding portion 49 is arranged to face the operation portion 27 of the slide holder 7 in the direction of movement of the slide holder 7 toward the temporary locking position when the slide holder 7 is in the final locking position. . Therefore, when the slide holder 7 attempts to move from the final locking position to the temporary locking position, the operating section 27 comes into contact with the protrusion 49, and the slide holder 7 cannot move. By restricting the movement of the slide holder 7 with the protrusion 49 in this manner, the slide holder 7 does not move to the temporary locking position, and the terminal 11 can be stably held in the housing 3.

When the slide holder 7 is in the final locking position, the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 is disposed to face the protruding portion 49 on the side opposite to the operating portion 27, that is, in the direction of movement of the slide holder 7 toward the temporary locking position. ing. Therefore, when the protruding portion 49 comes into contact with the operating portion 27 , the moving force of the slide holder 7 can be received by the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 . By arranging the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 in this manner, the rigidity of the protruding portion 49 can be reduced, and the structure of the protruding portion 49 can be simplified.

In addition, in the main locking position of the slide holder 7, in the direction of movement of the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 adjacent to the protrusion 49 to the side opposite to the operating portion 27, that is, toward the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7, An assembly section 33 is arranged. Therefore, when the protruding portion 49 comes into contact with the operating portion 27 , the moving force of the slide holder 7 can be received by the assembly portion 33 . By arranging the assembly portion 33 in this manner, the rigidity of the protruding portion 49 can be further reduced.

The method for assembling the connector 1 is as follows: First, the slide holder 7 and the rear holder 5 are assembled to the housing 3, and the slide holder 7 is placed in a temporary locking position. Next, the terminals 11 are accommodated in the plurality of terminal accommodation chambers 13 of the housing 3, respectively. Next, the operating section 27 is operated to place the slide holder 7 in the final locking position. Then, the rear cover 9 is assembled to the housing 3 via the assembly portion 33. At this time, the accommodation state of the terminals 11 in the housing 3 can be detected depending on whether the rear cover 9 is attached to the housing 3 or not.

In such a connector 1, the rear cover 9 is provided with a protrusion 49 that protrudes toward the housing 3. The protrusion 49 interferes with the slide holder 7 at the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7, making it impossible to assemble the rear cover 9 to the housing 3. Further, the protruding portion 49 is inserted into the housing 3 at the final locking position of the slide holder 7, thereby making it possible to assemble the rear cover 9 to the housing 3.

Therefore, in the temporary locking position of the slide holder 7, the rear cover 9 cannot be assembled to the housing 3, and it is difficult to detect that the terminal 11 may not be properly accommodated in the housing 3. can. On the other hand, in the final locking position of the slide holder 7, the rear cover 9 can be assembled to the housing 3, and it can be detected that the terminal 11 is normally accommodated in the housing 3.

By providing the rear cover 9 with the protrusion 49 that can detect the accommodation state of the terminal 11 in the housing 3 in this manner, a dedicated member is not required and an increase in the number of parts can be suppressed. Further, the rear cover 9 is assembled to the rear side of the housing 3 in the direction in which the terminals 11 are inserted. Therefore, there is no need to provide a space for arranging or moving a dedicated member around the outer periphery of the housing 3, and it is possible to suppress an increase in size.

Therefore, in such a connector 1, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts and an increase in size, and to detect the accommodation state of the terminals 11 in the housing 3.

Further, the protruding portion 49 is arranged so as to be able to come into contact with the slide holder 7 at the final locking position of the slide holder 7, and restricts movement of the slide holder 7 to the temporary locking position. Therefore, in the permanent locking position of the slide holder 7, the slide holder 7 does not move to the temporary locking position, and the terminal 11 can be stably held in the housing 3.

Further, the wall 31 of the housing 3 is disposed on the opposite side of the protrusion 49 from the slide holder 7 so as to be able to come into contact with it. Therefore, when the slide holder 7 and the protrusion 49 come into contact with each other at the final locking position of the slide holder 7, the moving force of the slide holder 7 can be received by the wall 31 of the housing 3. Therefore, the rigidity of the protrusion 49 can be reduced, and the structure of the protrusion 49 can be simplified.

Furthermore, on the opposite side of the wall portion 31 of the housing 3 from the protruding portion 49, an assembly portion 33 for maintaining the assembled state of the rear cover 9 to the housing 3 is provided. Therefore, when the slide holder 7 and the protruding portion 49 come into contact with each other at the final locking position of the slide holder 7, the moving force of the slide holder 7 can be received by the assembly portion 33. Therefore, the rigidity of the protrusion 49 can be further reduced, and the structure of the protrusion 49 can be further simplified.

Furthermore, the rear cover 9 is provided with a guide portion 41 that guides the electric wire 17 that is electrically connected to the terminal 11 and drawn out of the housing 3 . The protruding portion 49 is formed continuously with the guide portion 41. Therefore, the rigidity of the protrusion 49 can be reduced, and the structure of the protrusion 49 can be simplified.

Although this embodiment has been described above, this embodiment is not limited to these, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of this embodiment.

For example, in the connector according to the present embodiment, the rear cover is a member that has a guide function to guide the electric wire, but the rear cover is not limited to this, for example, the rear cover is a member that has a fall prevention function that prevents the rear holder from falling off. etc.

Furthermore, although the protruding part of the rear cover interferes with the operation part of the slide holder, this is not the only part; any part that the protruding part interferes with can be attached to the slide holder as long as it is possible to assemble or disassemble the rear cover to the housing. It can be any part of the throat.

1 Connector 3 Housing 7 Slide holder 9 Rear cover 11 Terminal 17 Electric wire 31 Wall portion 33 Assembly portion 41 Guide portion 49 Projection portion

Claims (5)

housing and
a slide holder that is assembled to the housing and engages with a terminal housed in the housing to hold the terminal in the housing;
a rear cover assembled to the housing on the rear side in the insertion direction of the terminal;
Equipped with
The slide holder is movable with respect to the housing between a temporary locking position where the terminal can be inserted into the housing and a full locking position where the terminal is engaged with the terminal housed in the housing. assembled into
The rear cover is provided with a protrusion that protrudes toward the housing,
The protrusion interferes with the slide holder at the temporary locking position of the slide holder, making it impossible to assemble the rear cover to the housing, and is inserted into the housing at the full locking position of the slide holder. enabling the rear cover to be assembled to the housing,
In the final locking position of the slide holder, a portion of the slide holder that interferes with the projection in the temporary locking position of the slide holder is arranged radially inward with respect to the projection, and On the other hand, a wall portion of the housing is disposed on the outside in the radial direction, and an assembly portion for maintaining the assembled state of the rear cover with respect to the housing is provided on the outside in the radial direction with respect to the wall portion of the housing. connector. The assembly part has an assembly hole and an assembly protrusion,
The assembly hole is provided in a locking piece that is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the wall of the housing and extends toward the rear cover,
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the assembly protrusion projects from an outer surface of the rear cover so as to be able to engage with the assembly hole. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the slide holder that interferes with the protrusion at the temporary locking position of the slide holder is an operating portion extending from the slide holder toward the rear cover. 4. The protruding portion is arranged so as to be able to come into contact with the slide holder at the permanent locking position of the slide holder, and restricts movement of the slide holder to the temporary locking position. connector. The rear cover is provided with a guide portion that guides an electric wire that is electrically connected to the terminal and drawn out of the housing,
The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protruding portion is formed continuously with the guide portion.

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